Merchandise display shelf



Jan. 26, 1965 D. L. MAPSON 3,167,037

MERCHANDISE DISPLAY SHELF Original Filed Aug. 23, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR D01vn4 L, Mqpsolv 1477'0QNEX Jan. 26, 1965 D. L. MAPSON 3,157,037

MERCHANDISE DISPLAY SHELF Original Filed Aug. 23, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. M/QPSON United States Patent 3,167,037 MERCHANDISE DISPLAY SHELF Donald L. Mapson, La Habra Heights, Calif, assignor to M & 1) Store Fixtures, Inc., a corporation of California Original application Aug. 23, 1961, Ser. No. 133,342, now Patent No. 3,125,042, dated Mar. 17, 1964. Divided and this application Sept. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 397,103

3 (llairns. (Ck 108--6) This invention relates to merchandise display shelves and particularly to sheet metal shelves supported by end brackets through the latter interlocking with perforations provided in vertical metal posts.

Heretofore, the general practice in the manufacture of such shelves has been either to just rest the shelf loosely on top of the brackets with such interengagement as would prevent horizontal shifting of the shelf without lifting the latter, or horizontal flanges have been formed on the end brackets which were secured to the shelf as by bolts or thread-cutting screws. In my copending application Serial No. 50,907, now US. Patent 3,082,880, an improved sheet metal shelf is disclosed which is reinforced by a plurality of longitudinal ribs formed from the metal of the shelf by downward deformation of the latter, and rigidity of the opposite ends of the shelf is attained by spot welding to the body of the shelf horizontal flanges of special sheet metal angles made to fit around said ribs. The shelf there disclosed has notches formed in said reinforcing ribs to receive the shelf supporting brackets so as to position the shelf on the brackets and cut down the over-all vertical depth of the shelf and the brackets.

It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a novel sheet metal merchandise display shelf having longitudinal reinforcement and adequately stiife nedend edges and end brackets for supporting said shelf which will be made up of fewer parts than heretofore required in the manufacture of such a shelf, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture, while at the same time improving the quality of the product. i

This application is a division carved out of my copending application Serial No. 133,342, now US. Patent 3,125,042, which was allowed with four claims on July 25, 1963.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects as well as further objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the shelf of the present invention with the latter supported in horizontal position.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary View similar to FIG. 2 showing the shelf of the invention in full lines in a forwardly inclined position at a given angle and showing said shelf in broken lines in a forwardly inclined position at a greater angle.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical detail sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the shelf 10 illustrated therein is shown as supported on a pair of vertical posts 11 which are formed of sheet metal channels and provided with vertical rows of lug receiving perforations 12.

The shelf 19) includes a rectangular flat body 13 which is die-formed from a rectangular blank of relatively thin 2 3,167,937 Patented Jan. 26, 1965 sheet metal by correspondingly notching opposite end edges of the blank and providing the shelf body with downwardly disposed reinforcing ribs 14 and 15 in axial alignment with said notches by downward deformation of the material of the blank and then bending the material of the blank between said notches along the opposite ends of the shelf downwardly at a right angle to form stiffening end flanges 16. At the same time the shelf blank was notched as aforesaid, other notches, not heretofore mentioned, were formed at the'two front corners of the blank and the marginal material along the front edge of the blank is die-formed downwardly and inwardly to form a front wall 17 which stiifens the front edge of the shelf body 13 and is itself strengthened by an inturned lip 18 along its lower edge. 1

A die-formed sheet metal price tag holder 19 is spot welded to the front face of the wall 17 to permanently unite this with the shelf body.

The shelf 13 may be manufactured with a smooth upper surface or the blank from which the shelf is made may be provided with a uniform pattern of perforations 20 such as merely suggested at the left hand end of the shelf shown in FIG. 1. This is done, as explained in said copending application, by a progressive die stamping operation accomplished on the blank prior to the deformation of the latter to form ribs 14 and 15, end flanges 16 and the front Wall 17.

In the fonrnation of the shelf body 13 as above described the end flanges 16 lie parallel with and a short distance from opposite ends ofthe shelf stiffening ribs 14 and 15 as well as the lip 18. In fact. the spacing between the flanges .16 and said ribs and lip is only a few thousandths of an inch greater than the thickness of the sheet metal forming a pair of shelf supporting end brackets 25 which are permanently united with opposite ends of the shelf body 13.

Each of the brackets 25 is disposed substantially vertically in its assembly with the shelf body ,13 and has a profile as shown in FIG. 2. An upper portion of each bracket is subjected to a Z-bending operation to form a flange 26 which is coextensive in length with the bracket and extends upwardly vertically from the outer edge of a web 27 which connects the flange 26- with the balance of the bracket 25.

In assembling the brackets 25 upon theshelf body 13 the flanges 26 of these brackets are extended upwardly between the lip 18 and ribs 14 and 15 (on the inside of the shelf) and the end flanges 16 forming the external end faces of the shelf so as to bring the webs 27 into load bearing relation with-the ribs 14 andlS, whereupon the end flanges 16 and the bracket flanges 26 are spot welded together thus permanently uniting the brackets 25 with the shelf body 13.

The brackets 25 are provided with coaxial bearing shoulder pivot rivets 28 which pivotally unite the respective brackets 25 with bracket bases 29 so as to hold these bases, which are made of sheet metal, flat against the outer faces of the brackets 25. These bases are provided along their rear vertical edges with locking lugs 30 and guide lugs 31 which, when received into an adjacent series of the perforations 12 in the posts 11, interlock with these posts and provide support for the shelf 10.

Each of the brackets 25 has a middle section 32 of its lower edge in the general shape of an arc inscribed about the axis of the pivot rivets 28 this edge section terminating at its opposite ends in downwardly extending stop shoulders 33 and 34 and having three locking notches 40, 4-1 and 42 formed upwardly in said edge section, the notches 40 and 42 being directly adjacent respectively to the stop shoulders 33 and 34. Formed in brackets 25 and approximately bisected by edge sections 32 is a pair of relatively short closed slots 43 which are elongated radially with respect to the axis of the pivot rivets 28 and lie approximately half above and half below the arc of the lower edgesection 32 of the bases 29. I The lower half of each of the slots '43 is slightly enlarged for a purpose which will be made clear hereinafter.

Associated with each of the brackets 25 and lying against the inner face thereof is a spring wire latch 44 each of which has a short tit 45 bent at right angles from one end thereof this tit extending outwardly through a 'hole 46 provided in the bracket so that portions 47 of the latches 44 lie flat against inner faces of the brackets 25 and are rigidly secured to the brackets by outstruck fingers 43 which are die-forced into clamping relation with the wire forming'the latches 44 so as to form flattened faces 49 on said wire over which the fingers 43 are clamped thus rigidly uniting the latches 43 with the brackets 25 and preventing rotation of the latches 43 about the axis of the portions 47 thus secured to the brackets. A substantial portion of each of the spring latches 44 lies between the restrained portion '47 thereof and the slots 43 provided vin the brackets '25 and these portions are entirely free from restraint so that they may be flexed parallel with the brackets 25 by the application of pressure from the thumbs of the two hands against thumb loops 5ft bent in the wire forming the latches 44. These loops extend horizontally from said latches and terminate in portions 51 which are normal with the planesof the brackets and the bracket bases 29 and extend outwardly through the slots '43 and just beyond the thickness of the bracket bases 29 where the material of the spring latches 44 is bent at right angles to the portions 51 thereof to form guide arms '52 which extend upwardly from the portions '51 a sufficient distance so as to always overlie portions of the bracket bases 29 whereby the guide arms 52 cooperate with the pivot rivets 28 in securely holding the two bases 29 in close pivotal sliding relation with the brackets 25.

The portions 51 of the spring latches 44 which extend through both the brackets 25 and bracket bases 29 normally rest in one or the other of the pairs of locking notches 40, 41 and 42 so that these portions 51 constitute latch bars. .When the shelf10 is mounted on the posts 11, the engagement of the lugs 30 and 31 with these posts holds'the bracketbases 29 in rigidly spaced coextensive relation with each other and the shelf 10, if not in horizontal position, is brought into this by depressing the thumb loops 50 to remove the latch bars 51 from any of the notches 41 or 42 in which they may have rested, swinging the shelf 10 into horizontal position and then releasing pressure from the thumb loops 50. The latch bars 51 are then opposite the locking notches of the bases 29 and the release of pressure on the thumb loops allow said latch bars to be spring extended by the spring action of the spring latches 44 into the notches 40 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

It isreadily observable that the adjustment mechanism of the shelf 10 above described permits the attitude of this shelf to be changed from horizontal to either of two forwardly inclined angles by depressing the thumb loops 5t) and after swinging the shelf downwardly either into the full line position shown in FIG. 4 or the broken line position shown'therein, releasing pressure on the thumb loops Sit-thus permitting the latch bars 51 to spring upwardly. either into the notches 41 which will lock the :shelf in its full line position shown in FIG. 4, or into notches 42 which will lock the shelf in its broken line position shown in this view.

OWing to the fact that the downward swinging of the thumb loops 50 is limited by engagement of the latch bars 51 with the bottoms of the closed slots 53, the upper end portions of the arms 52 still overlie the solid materialcoffthe bracketbases '29 so as to act as guides holding the respective brackets 25 and their bases 29 in closely 4 spaced sliding relation about the pivot rivets 28 which unite these members.

While only two posts 11 are shown in the drawings each of these posts is provided with a double row of shelf supporting perforations 12 and these two posts are adapted to be combined with other posts set up in a straight line so that a series of shelves 10 may be supported by said posts to form one continuous shelf. Adjacent shelves 10 thus assembled on the same level are in abutment with one another and all the shelves 10 forming a continuous line of shelving are ordinarily adjusted so as to be supported in the same angular position relative to their bracket bases 29. FIG. 6, in which one shelf 10 is shown in full lines and another adjacent shelf it) is shown in broken lines, illustrates the contiguous relationship of shelves thus united to form a single relatively long shelf. This view also shows how the thumb loops 5% formed in the spring wire latches 44 so as to extend horizontally inwardly into the space beneath the shelf it) on which these loops areprovided, may be readily engaged by thumbs of the two hands and depressed to facilitate changing the angular position of this shelf. The depression of thumb loops 50 is of course against the spring tension of the spring latches 44 which is normally operative to hold the spring bars 51 upwardly into a corresponding pair of notches 40, 41 and 42. Having thus disengaged the latch bars 51 from a given pair of said notches and slightly rotated the shelf 10 about the pivot rivets 23, the thumb loops 50 may be released to allow the latch bars 51 to ride on the edge sections 32 of the bases 29 after which the shelf may be swung at little further in the same direction until the latch bars 51 come opposite the next corresponding pair of notches in said bases this resulting in the spring latches 44 snapping the latch bars 51 into the last mentioned pair of notches.

Another important advantage of the present invention may be seen by reference to FIG. 6 wherein it is evident that the Z-bend formed in the upper portion of each bracket 25 coupled with the provision of a very narrow space between opposite ends of ribs 15 and end flanges 16 of the shelf body 13 and the formation of upper bracket flange 26 so that it is neatly received in this space while bringing the web 27 of the bracket into load bearing relation with the ribs 15 and then spot welding the flanges 16 to the flanges 26, produces a very rigid, economical end structure for the shelf 10. It is also to be noted that this structure eliminates the necessity for a separate sheet metal angle for stiffening opposite ends of the shelf body 13, this function now being performed by the upper flanges 26 of the end brackets 25. This constitutes a very measurable economy in the manufacture of the shelf 10 as well as producing a superior product.

The claims are:

1. A sheet metal shelf supported, when in use, on 'a pair of vertical posts having vertical rows of perforations, said shelf comprising a rectangular shelf body of sheet metal notched correspondingly at its opposite ends, deformed downwardly in alignment with said notches to form integral longitudinal reinforcing ribs and bent downwardly at its opposite ends to form bracket attaching flanges spaced laterally very short distances from opposite ends of said ribs; two sheet metal brackets extending upwardly to substantially fill the spaces between said flanges and ribs and spot Welded to said flanges to unite said brackets with said shelf body; and lugs provided on rear ends of said brackets, said lugs fitting into perforations in said posts to support said shelf on said posts.

2. A sheet metal shelf supported, when in use. on a pair of vertical posts having vertical rows of perforations, said shelf comprising a rectangular shelf body of sheet metal notched correspondingly at its opposite ends, said body being deformed downwardly in alignment with said notches to form integral longitudinal reinforcing ribs, and being bent downward at right angles at its opposite ends to form bracket attaching flanges spaced laterally very short distances from opposite ends of said ribs; two sheet metal brackets die-formed to produce Z-bends therein to provide on each a vertical upper flange coextensive with the bracket, a horizontal web and a vertical lower bracket portion, said brackets being located at opposite ends of the shelf with said upper flanges extending upwardly between the bracket attaching flanges and the adjacent rib ends and with said horizontal webs extending under said rib ends in supporting relation therewith, said bracket attaching flanges being spot welded to said upper bracket flanges to unite said brackets to said shelf body; and lugs provided on rear ends of said lower bracket portions, said lugs fitting into perforations in said posts to support said shelf on said posts.

3. A combination as in claim 2 in which said brackets have sheet metal bracket bases pivotally riveted thereto on an axis just below and close to the rear edge of said shelf to lie flat against outer faces of said lower bracket portions, said attaching lugs being formed on said bases, central sections of the lower edges of said bases comprising arcs inscribed about said axis, opposite ends of said edge sections terminating in downward extending stop shoulders, a series of locking notches being formed upwardly in said arcuate edge sections; and spring wire latches fixed at their forward ends to said lower bracket portions to lie against inner faces thereof with thumb loops formed from rear portions thereof to extend horizontally inwardly for thumb actuating said latches, there being vertically elongated slots in said lower bracket portions opposite said arcuate edge sections through which inner extremities of said spring latches extend horizontally to form latch bars yieldably urged by said latches into corresponding pairs of said notches, guide arms being bent at right angles from outer ends of said latch bars to engage outer faces of said bracket bases". and hold these in snug rotary sliding relation with said brackets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,833,420 Streater May 6, 1958 2,891,680 MacAleese June 23, 1959 2,912,119 Robinson Nov. 10, 1959 2,936,904 Streater May 17, 1960 2,971,657 Zadek Feb. 14, 1961 3,082,880 Mapson Mar. 26, 1963' 3,102,499 Shelor Sept. 3, 1963 3,125,042 Mapson Mar. 17, 1964 

1. A SHEET METAL SHELF SUPPORTED, WHEN IN USE, ON A PAIR OF VERTICAL POSTS HAVING VERTICAL ROWS OF PERFORATIONS, SAID SHELF COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR SHELF BODY OF SHEET METAL NOTCHED CORRESPONDINGLY AT ITS OPPOSITE ENDS, DEFORMED DOWNWARDLY IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID NOTCHES TO FORM INTEGRAL LONGITUDINAL REINFORCING RIBS AND BENT DOWNWARDLY AT ITS OPPOSITE ENDS TO FORM BRACKET ATTACHING FLANGES SPACED LATERALLY VERY SHORT DISTANCES FROM OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID RIBS; TWO SHEET METAL BRACKETS EXTENDING UPWARDLY TO SUBSTANTIALLY FILL THE SPACES BETWEEN SAID FLANGES AND RIBS AND SPOT WELDED TO SAID FLANGES TO UNITE SAID BRACKETS WITH SAID SHELF BODY; AND LUGS PROVIDED ON REAR ENDS OF SAID BRACKETS, SAID LUGS FITTING INTO PERFORATIONS IN SAID POSTS TO SUPPORT SAID SHELF ON SAID POSTS. 